


Summer House

by Pale Rider (Boothros)



Series: Changing Seasons [8]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:33:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8427865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boothros/pseuds/Pale%20Rider





	

Robbie Lewis was almost trembling with excitement. For the umpteenth time, he paced to the window only to be disappointed again by no signs of Hathaway’s vehicle. It was ridiculous really. Hathaway wasn’t even late, in fact if he’d left the office on time he wasn’t even due home for another ten minutes. Lewis dropped onto the sofa firmly sitting on his hands in an attempt to curb his skittishness. Finally, he sensed rather than saw the sweep of Hathaway’s car as it entered the driveway leading to the small carpark behind Lewis’ block. As soon as Hathaway entered the back door, Lewis was all over him.

“Bloody hell, have you been on the fizz early, Robbie?”

“Can you get tomorrow off?”

“Er, not easily no, why do you ask?”

“How tired are you?”

“Um, it depends really. If you want philosophical conversation, I’m beat. If you want hot sex, I’m actually not that tired at all.”

“How about going to view a property?”

“Why have you found something?”

“I’ve think I’ve found ‘the one’ _,_ James. I almost put an offer in there and then, but I simply couldn’t until you’d seen it.”

“Well it’s obviously got you all fired up! Look you get onto the agent and see what time he’s willing to work till whilst I grab a quick shower.”

Hathaway bounded up the stairs as a Detective Inspector and came down them again as a lithe, casually dressed, beautiful young man. Lewis called it ‘James shedding his skin’ and always wondered what good things he’d done in a previous life to get so lucky.

The house was a stone’s throw from their local and shared similar views of the Isis, albeit from the other side of it. Lewis took the key from the agent and batted down his attempted spiel.

“You don’t have to convince me anymore, lad. We’ll view it on our own if that’s okay.”

Lewis watched for minute reactions from Hathaway and wasn’t disappointed, the man was completely captivated.

“Robbie, we didn’t discuss houses like this! This wouldn’t have even come into my search criteria, we could never afford something like this, why are we even looking at it?”

“Don’t think about the price, pet, just tell me what you think of it.”

Though completely detached, set in only half an acre, the property could hardly be described as a farmhouse even though it gave a very good impression of one. James Hathaway’s hands were visibly shaking as he turned the key in the front door. A well-lit Victorian hallway lead through to the lounge on the left. The view of the river was spectacular, leaving Hathaway spellbound. He had to be dragged away from it by Lewis who urged him on towards the kitchen.

“Oh my God, this is simply amazing, Robbie!”

“Not for the purists, maybe, pet. The beams are all original but you can bet that glass roof and the conservatory are more recent additions. The building itself is over two hundred years old but it’s easy to see where people have modernised it over time.”

A quick tour of the bedrooms assured both that Lewis could busy himself decorating them to their own taste. The bathroom had a serviceable tub but would easily accommodate the two person version that Lewis had envisioned. Finally, Lewis led his partner downstairs to the last space that he had chosen to expose. Hathaway’s mouth dropped open when he saw the room that overlooked the paddock garden.

“Oh, Robbie! Christ this is just how I imagined my music room to be!”

“I must be starting to learn your taste, pet ‘cos I thought exactly the same thing.”

Hathaway was shaking with the same excitement that had gripped Lewis hours earlier. Taking pity on him, Lewis led him out into the garden. They sat on the bench beneath a gnarled apple tree.

“It feels like home, Robbie. I don’t know why, I’d never even seen the place before tonight, but it feels _so_ like home.”

“Shall we put an offer in then?”

“What? How the hell would we be able to afford it?”

“I agree we’d need to take on a small mortgage, but if you like it and we want it, I could probably pay for at least half of it tomorrow if I had to. It only went on the market this morning. They want a quick sale and we’ve got no chains …”

“Hang on, what do you mean, you could probably pay for half of it, have you just won the lottery or something?”

“I’ve got a bit in the bank, lad. If truth be told, I could probably have stopped working after Val died. Inspector Morse only had two dependants in his will and I was one of them. He even left me that bloody car of his. I sold it to a collector, Jeremy Boynton, ‘cos I couldn’t bear to look at it after Morse had gone. The sale from that alone would probably pay for the deposit on this place. When I sold my old family home and started renting, I was quids in, really.”

“Why the hell didn’t you retire then?”

“Because work was all I had left, lad. I was jaded when I returned from overseas and almost ready to chuck it all in, but then you came along. All of a sudden, working alongside you gave me me spark back. I actually looked forward to getting up in the mornings.”

“Heck, I never realised you were loaded. I sort of feel like a bit of a kept man now!”

“Well as I said, we’ll still need a mortgage. I haven’t got enough to buy it outright and there will still be bills and such. It’s an old house and they usually need a bit of cash behind them to keep them going. You’re an Inspector now though, lad. If I know you right, you don’t do the job for the money, but it’s still not a wage to be sniffed at.”

“No, you’re right. I certainly didn’t become Inspector for the pay increase.”

“If I remember right, you fought tooth and nail against doing it. What finally changed your mind?”

“You did. I’d learned so much from you which would have all gone to waste if I’d stayed where I was. I was reasonably happy being a sergeant but I owed you. Making Inspector was my tribute to all you did for me.”

“Y’ soft lad! You got where you are through sheer hard work, which I take no credit for whatsoever. Now’s the time to reap some reward for your efforts, pet, if you want to. What do you think, do we put in an offer?”

Hathaway threw his head back and gazed at the fading sky. The first stars of the night were shyly starting to show their twinkling faces. Baby mosquitoes danced and dared with each other in busy clustering groups. Nearby a vixen barked startling a moorhen into sudden, squawking panic. The unique climate of an English summer evening suggested the first chill of the day. Hathaway knew that even if the house wasn’t to be theirs, he would remember these moments always.

“Oh, God, Robbie, the bloody agent!”

“Oh yeah, I completely forgot about him! So do we want it?”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to leave it.”

“Come on then, Inspector let’s put the poor bloke out of his misery.”

Lewis dropped the keys back into the estate agents hand.

“Get it taken off the market. We’ll meet the price and top any offer.”

Instantly warmed by his promised commission, the agent drove off a much happier man.

Hand in hand, Lewis and Hathaway took a last lingering look at their new home. There was a sense of something very special about it that they both now shared. A magical place where dreams could be realised and life lived in peace. With quiet smiles and agreeable nods they made for the car.

~~~oOo~~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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